Pontiac receives $461,600 in high bids in auction of city-owned properties

The City of Pontiac received $461,600 in high bids that were unsealed Friday in an auction of city-owned property.

"Our intention is to accept them all," said Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel. "If it all goes through, the city's going to have $461,600."

The total of the minimum bids set for the six properties that received bids was $340,000.

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"This is not an effort to make a lot of money for the city. This is an effort to get them in the hands of private owners," Schimmel said, "to do away with the eyesores and make them look good ... and to put (the properties) on the tax roll."

The city's next step is to close on the high bids and then return the bonds submitted by unsuccessful bidders.

"Unless some horror story comes up, we're comfortable with what happened," Schimmel said.

The buyers of the city-owned buildings will have to comply with the city's zoning ordinance in whatever developments they pursue, the emergency financial manager said.

The high bidder on two downtown parking lots and the Ada Shelly Building, at 148 N. Glenwood Avenue, was Winnsboro Forest Companies, LLC. The company bid on six of the eight properties in the auction.

"I think Pontiac is a great place to invest," said Rod Blake, president and CEO of the Bloomfield Hills-based Winnsboro Forest Co. "I've been here for a long time. I grew up in the city and went to all Pontiac schools, and I really think that it's turning in the right direction, and there are some real possibilities here, so I'm excited about it," he said.

Blake is a former chairman of the Pontiac Downtown Development Authority, and worked for The Taubman Co. for about 15 years. Blake's company also is marketing 20 properties owned by the Pontiac school district.

Winnsboro Forest's $25,100 high bid for the Ada Shelly Building was the only bid received for the former Pontiac Police Department ministation.

The company's winning bid for a parking lot at University Drive and North Mill Street was $75,750, and its winning bid for a parking lot at West Huron Street and Woodward Avenue was $50,750.

The high bidder on the Howard Dell Community Center, at 345 Edison Street, was Creative Empowerment Opportunities, for $40,000. The company is a nonprofit "specializing in the design and implementation of individual vocational service options and support systems," with an office in Clinton Township, according to its website.

Pontiac resident Demetra Leonard made a $120,000 winning bid on the David Ewalt Community Center. Leonard said she had no comment when reached by phone Friday.

Joseph Sobota, the director of the city's Department of Community Development, said: "We believe that the two highest bidders on the Ewalt Center and the Howard Dell Center purchased (them) sight unseen."

Sterling Heights-based Rizzo Environmental Services entered the $150,000 high bid on a former city landfill on Kennett Road that was last used in the 1960s.

A building at 196 Orchard Lake Road, formerly the Pontiac Business Development Center, received no bids.

A building at 500 W. Huron Street, added late to the auction, also received no bids.

"Those two (properties) we'll try again -- both that and 196 Orchard Lake," Schimmel said.

The city is planning to hold an auction of surplus commercial land on March 21 and an auction of hundreds of vacant residential lots on April 25.